


Third Time Is Forever

by estriel



Series: August Break 2019 [17]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-23 06:24:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20335552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/estriel/pseuds/estriel
Summary: It takes them two tries, two failures, and a thousand near misses before Yuzu and Javi finally get it right, the third time.





	Third Time Is Forever

**Author's Note:**

> I am a bit behind with the prompts. The one for August 20th was _two_.

It takes them two tries, two failures, and a thousand near misses before they finally get it right, the third time.

The first time they kiss, in a darkened hotel hallway in Shanghai, Javi is still high on his win and he kisses Yuzu with all the overflowing joy and enthusiasm of that gold. Yuzu gasps into his mouth, startled, and for a moment, it is utter perfection, Yuzu’s lips plush like ripe cherries under his, Yuzu all warm and slender and so beyond beautiful in his arms. Then Yuzu pulls away and looks at Javi, eyes fawn-like. He raises a hand to his mouth, brushes his fingertips across his lips. He looks infinitely young and a little terrified.

“Javi,” he whispers, half wonder, half disbelief. “Javi, I – we can’t – we have to compete,” he stammers, his free hand coming up to his chest.

They nearly kiss in Russia, Yuzu twinkling like a gem in his white swan costume, and Javi blinded by the sparkling beauty of his smile, the way it tends to ripple into existence and wipe the rest of the world from his mind.

They nearly kiss in Finland, too. It seems inevitable, the way they tip into one another, forward, ever forward, eyes locked and hands reaching. In the end, Javi’s hands find Yuzu’s waist, while Yuzu’s palms rest on Javi’s shoulders. They look at each other for a breathless moment, and Javi knows that they both want it, he can feel the pull of Yuzu’s craving deep inside the pit of his stomach. But the next season is the Olympic one, and they both seem to hesitate at that, the final sprint – and their final battle – looming grand and menacing ahead of them.

The second kiss happens in PyeongChang. They are walking back through the Olympic village after the medal ceremony, bundled up in coats and scarves, and somehow alone with just the softly falling snow for company. The night feels silent and a little hollow, now that it is all done. Then Yuzu turns to Javi, eyes brighter than the gold of his Olympic medal, and presses his cold hands to Javi’s face as he leans into him. The tip of Yuzu’s nose is icy, but his lips are warm as they find Javi’s, and Javi opens his mouth on instinct, the rightness of Yuzu’s hot tongue shocking the lights out of him for a second. Then he remembers where he is, who he is, and mostly who is waiting for him in a hotel outside the Olympic village. He has been trying to make things work, things that are not Yuzu. And it is over, anyway, he will be moving to Spain now, and what would they do then, with an ocean between them… 

He steps away from the kiss, and tries his best not to see the hurt in Yuzu’s eyes, even worse than the hurt he had already caused by springing the news of his retirement on Yuzu when he least expected it. Instead, he focuses on his own pain, the throbbing, ghastly thing inside his chest that seems to grow with every inch of distance he puts between them. 

It takes a while. But here they are, in Montreal, where Javi shouldn’t be because he has no objective reason for it, and Yuzu, considering the state of his ankle, should not really be either.

It takes a while, but here they are, five World titles and three Olympic medals between them, and – finally – no obstacles, with Yuzu on the brink of retirement, and Javi six months past a messy break-up.

It’s not an impulsive thing buoyed by an unexpected win. Neither is it a desperate last chance attempt at stilling time. It is a step forward, sure and solid, as Javi reaches for Yuzu’s waist and Yuzu folds into him. It is a mutual understanding that this will not be easy, but it will be real. It is an admission, a rejoicing, after so many years of confused feelings and desires curbed for the sake of golden dreams.

It is everything that Javi wanted, the way Yuzu is both soft and firm in his embrace, the way he returns his kiss with timid tenderness at first, then a fierce, cocky assuredness, fingers in Javi’s hair and a muscular thigh slipped surreptitiously in between Javi’s.

And when he picks Yuzu up and kicks the bedroom door shut behind them, Javi smiles. Apparently, third time really is the charm. Third time… is forever. 


End file.
